
The Adjungbilly Creek in the Upper Riverina Highlands is home to one of 4 remaining populations of the endangered Macquarie Perch. Over the past 10 years with the help of DPI Fisheries and Charles Sturt University we have been monitoring the population of 'Maccas' using electrofishing and fyke net methods.
There are of course disadvantages in these methods with the percentage of fish captured influenced by factors such as the size of the fish, conductivity and flow rates.
Recently we trialled a fairly cost effective method of spotlighting. With the help from traditional owners from the Brungle Tumut Local Aboriginal Land Council, 2 sites on the Adjungbilly were surveyed. A total of 6 Maccas were identified including young of year.

Refreshing Rivers is working alongside Landcare, local government, and the Soil Conservation Service to install cod logs in the Adelong Creek. These structures form part of a nature‑based solution designed to strengthen river resilience following extreme weather events and ongoing habitat loss.
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In what is thought to be an Australian first, a portable PIT (Passive Integrated Transponder) reader has been installed in Adjungbilly Creek to help scientists track the movements of the endangered Macquarie Perch.
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We lacked information on the aquatic wildlife of the Upper Billabong catchment, so using Citizen Science - the Refreshing Rivers iNaturalist project and eDNA tests, we have gathered 1,672 observations across the catchment and also completed 9 eDNA profiles in local waterways.
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